In many ways, Inauguration Day can be the first impression of a presidency: A new administration is on display for the nation to look upon and listen to for the first time.
We took a deeper look into the words, people and moments that set the tone for President Joe Biden’s administration by following the inauguration’s official hashtags on Paraqeet: #InaugurationDay and #Inauguration2021.
Paraqeet allows users to easily search hashtags, users and keywords on Twitter to get a snapshot of conversations, identify influencers and analyze communities. Paraqeet also enables users to adjust the time frame of their search. We took advantage of this feature to perform our Inauguration Day search over a 24-hour period to ensure more reflective and accurate results. Our search included the inauguration’s official hashtags on Jan. 20, 2021.
At the center: A message of new beginnings
Tweets from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris formed the center of the network, where they sent a message of unity to the American people. Using Paraqeet’s Insights view, we were able to identify that the Twitter accounts for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were the No. 1 and No. 2 influencers in the conversations using the inauguration hashtags on Inauguration Day.
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- Joe Biden was the top influencer in conversations related to Inauguration Day 2021.
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- Kamala Harris was the No. 2 influencer in conversations related to Inauguration Day 2021.
With the nation grappling with a pandemic, economic insecurity, political extremism and more, President Biden and Vice President Harris chose to look toward the future. Jan. 20th marked “a new path forward” and a chance to “begin anew” for the United States.
President Biden echoed this sentiment as he addressed the nation after taking the oath of office:
“To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and secure the future of America – requires more than just words. It requires the most elusive of things in a democracy: unity.”
A young poet steals the show
Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet at 22 years old, moved the nation with her words. When she recited her poem “The Hill We Climb,” Twitter erupted with praise and appreciation.
Gorman became one of Twitter’s top influencers, and across all social media platforms she generated the most interactions on Inauguration Day. In our Paraqeet search, Gorman was the fourth highest influencer in the conversations using the official inauguration hashtags on Jan. 20, 2021. She was only edged out by the Twitter accounts for Biden, Harris and the official POTUS Twitter account.
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- This tweet was one of many praising Amanda Gorman on Inauguration Day.
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- Amanda Gorman’s Twitter network on Inauguration Day 2021.
In step with President Biden, Gordon acknowledged the hardships of America’s past while looking toward the future:
“The new dawn blooms as we free it / For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it – if only we are brave enough to be it.”
Gorman demonstrated the power of words and emotion to move and influence people, , which was reflected in the Twitter conversations we observed in Paraqeet.
We ran a separate Paraqeet search focusing solely on @AmandaGorman and the Inauguration Day hashtags for a 24-hour period on Jan. 20, 2021, to take a deeper look at the previously unknown poet’s skyrocket to stardom. Media outlets “Good Morning America,” “CBS This Morning” and CSPAN dominated the Twitter network discussing the young poet. They were joined by activists, academics and social media personas sharing clips of her performance and discussing her background.
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- GMA tweet promoting an interview with Amanda Gorman.
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- CBS This Morning tweets about an interview with Amanda Gorman.
VP Kamala Harris celebrated in India
Inauguration Day 2021 marked a historic milestone as Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, was sworn in as vice president.
We tapped into Twitter conversations in India on Inauguration Day to see how users were reacting to this monumental event. We ran the same search we had previously (#InaugurationDay and #InaugurationDay2021 for 24 hours on Jan. 20, 2021), but added a country filter to only view tweets from India. This allowed us to observe differences in the conversation.
In this search, Kamala Harris’ Twitter account, rather than Biden’s, was the top influencer for the #Inauguration2021 hashtag. Top tweets congratulated both Biden and Harris, and several mentioned the significance of Harris being the first woman VP and her having Indian origin. Harris even received specific congratulations from India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, in a tweet that garnered significant momentum in the network.
India’s Prime Minister congratulates VP Kamala Harris.
Inauguration Day 2021
#InaugurationDay and #Inauguration2021 helped introduce us to this new administration.
President Biden and Vice President Harris looked toward the future and called for unity, Amanda Gorman, the youngest-ever Inaugural poet, made history with her words heard throughout the world, and VP Harris received cheers and celebration in India.
Until next time, when it’s #Inauguration2025.